Indigenous Peoples

Indian Act Aboriginal women who married a person who is not Indian (Aboriginal) are not entitled to legal status registration under Canadian law

Indian Act Residential Schools remove children from the influence of their families and culture, and assimilate them into the dominant Canadian culture

Ban on Religious Ceremonies Indian Act Ban on Religious Ceremonies Both the Potlatch and Sun Dance were made illegal

Restricted access to courts Indian Act Restricted access to courts forbid any Indian or band from retaining a lawyer for the purpose of making a claim against Canada

Unemployment, ill health and poverty were common problems on reserves The “White Paper” addressed these issues

Abolition of reserves was recommended

End of special status for treaty Indians

“The White Paper” Why? The belief that equality was necessary to solve the problems. Assimilation was the answer.

Aboriginal community rejected the proposal – The “Red Paper”

“For the Indian to survive, says the government in effect, he must become a good little brown white man… the only good Indian is a non-Indian”

Trudeau’s government withdrew the White Paper in 1971

LAND CLAIMS

The NIB renamed themselves the “Assembly of First Nations”

Based on existing treaties Specific Land Claims Based on existing treaties

Comprehensive Land Claims Based on areas where no treaties had been signed

The Oka Standoff

In 1990, a golf course expansion in Oka, Quebec was proposed

The Mohawk claimed this land had always belonged to them. They blockaded major roads It lasted for more than 6 months

The Canadian Army was called in

An agreement was finally reached and the land transferred to the Kanesatake First Nation

SELF-GOVERNMENT

The Nisga'a Final Agreement, also known as the Nisga'a Treaty, is a treaty settled between the Nisg̱a'a, the government of British Columbia, and the Government of Canada. As part of the settlement in the Nass River valley nearly 2,000 square kilometres of land was officially recognized as Nisg̱a'a, and a 300,000 cubic decameter water reservation was also created. Bear Glacier Provincial Park was also created as a result of this agreement. Thirty-one Nisga'a placenames in the territory became official names.[1] The land-claim settlement was the first formal treaty signed by a First Nation in British Columbia since Treaty 8 in 1899. The agreement gives the Nisga'a control over their land, including the forestry and fishing resources contained in it. The Nisga’a Treaty

They were given wide powers of self-government

Nunavut 1999 Inuit were given right to self-government over resources, education and justice